Encountering Personal Injury: Medical, Educational, Vocational and Psychosocial Perspectives on Disability

198 Pages·2016·16.06 MB·English

by  James A. Athanasou (auth.)

Encountering Personal Injury
STUDIES IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Volume 31
Series Editor
Roger Slee, University of South Australia, Australia
Editorial Board
Mel Ainscow, University of Manchester, UK
Felicity Armstrong, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
Len Barton, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
Suzanne Carrington, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Joanne Deppeler, Monash University, Australia
Linda Graham, University of Sydney, Australia
Levan Lim, National Institute of Education, Singapore
Missy Morton, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Scope
This series addresses the many different forms of exclusion that occur in schooling
across a range of international contexts and considers strategies for increasing the
inclusion and success of all students. In many school jurisdictions the most reliable
predictors of educational failure include poverty, Aboriginality and disability.
Traditionally schools have not been pressed to deal with exclusion and failure.
Failing students were blamed for their lack of attainment and were either placed in
segregated educational settings or encouraged to leave and enter the unskilled labour
market. The crisis in the labor market and the call by parents for the inclusion of
their children in their neighborhood school has made visible the failure of schools to
include all children.
Drawing from a range of researchers and educators from around the world, Studies
in Inclusive Education will demonstrate the ways in which schools contribute to the
failure of different student identities on the basis of gender, race, language, sexuality,
disability, socio-economic status and geographic isolation. This series differs
from existing work in inclusive education by expanding the focus from a narrow
consideration of what has been traditionally referred to as special educational needs
to understand school failure and exclusion in all its forms. Moreover, the series
will consider exclusion and inclusion across all sectors of education: early years,
elementary and secondary schooling, and higher education.
Encountering Personal Injury
Medical, Educational, Vocational and Psychosocial
Perspectives on Disability
James A. Athanasou
The University of Sydney, Australia
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-94-6300-655-2 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-656-9 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-657-6 (e-book)
Published by: Sense Publishers,
P.O. Box 21858,
3001 AW Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
https://www.sensepublishers.com/
All chapters in this book have undergone peer review.
Cover image: Landscape with Sea, by Georgios Roilos, oil on canvas
(Private collection) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2016 Sense Publishers
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the
exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and
executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
This book is dedicated to the Estia Foundation
for people with disabilities
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ix
Chapter 1: Personal Injury 1
Chapter 2: Disability 7
Chapter 3: Burn Injury 13
Chapter 4: Musculoskeletal Injury 21
Chapter 5: Whiplash Associated Disorder 41
Chapter 6: Back Pain 53
Chapter 7: Chronic Pain 69
Chapter 8: Psychological Disability 79
Chapter 9: Mood Disorder 91
Chapter 10: Anxiety and Stress Disorder 99
Chapter 11: Traumatic Brain Injury 117
Chapter 12: Vision Impairment 131
Chapter 13: Hearing Impairment 141
Chapter 14: Amputation 149
Chapter 15: Spinal Cord Injury 157
Chapter 16: Stroke 165
Chapter 17: Substance Abuse 171
Chapter 18: Rehabilitation and Personal Injury 181
Cases Cited in the Text 191
About the Author 193
Index 195
vii
PREFACE
Welcome to Encountering Personal Injury. At first glance it might seem like a topic
of narrow relevance but disability in one form or another affects more than one-fifth
of the population. Disabilities are extensive and have many causes. One major cause
is injuries.
The injuries that bring about a disability affect people at every stage of life but
principally in adolescence and adulthood. This is mainly through motor vehicle
accidents or workplace incidents but also through professional, public or other
negligence. The effects are widespread – often there is a lifelong impact on health,
education, employment, finances, family or self.
One way in which we address these consequences is through the field of
rehabilitation counselling. Medical, educational, vocational or psychosocial
rehabilitation counselling is an expression of care for another person. It is a belief in
their potential to lead a meaningful life following a personal injury. The existence
of this discipline is a feature of the extent to which we value human life and an
indicator of how much we are a civil society.
I believe that we have a responsibility to assist as much as possible. For the
rehabilitation counselling practitioner this requires some background knowledge but
also awareness of the varied effect of an injury on the life of a person. This book is
merely an introduction to this vast field.
It is directed towards an understanding of some implications of a disability that
arise from a personal injury. Consequently, it does not deal with chronic illness,
congenital or developmental disabilities. It serves mainly as an introduction to a
select number of conditions: traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, psychiatric
impairment, substance abuse, musculoskeletal injury, amputation, burn injuries,
chronic pain, stroke, vision impairment or hearing impairment.
ix